What's the max amount of hours you can study in 1 sitting? Forum

[notaznguy]

I've been glancing at other threads and most people will write something like they'll study 20+ hours a week, which seems reasonable if you study 3 hours a day everyday. Then there are really ridiculous schedules where people just study 8-12 hours a day.

How realistic is that? o.O

I'm currently going over the PowerScore LR Bible and I started this past Tuesday studying consistently (I had opened the book for a few hours the Saturday before). So since Tuesday, I've been able to study for about 3-3.5 hours in a sitting. More than that, I get extremely bored and I lack the will to continue. If this "8 hour" stretch is real, how do you people do it? Even during the school year, I cannot find myself studying for 8 hours straight. The most I've done is 5 hours, but even then, there is some procrastinating in between, such as occasionally looking at facebook for 15 minutes or so.

[bk1]

Depends on you. It wasn't studying per se but a couple times I took 3 PT's in one day.

If you can do 8-12 hours, great for you. If you can't, don't sweat it and don't try to force yourself to adapt to what other people do on the extreme end.

[glucose101]

I think the real question is how many hours of effective studying can one do, not just the max. Once you become inefficient, well, you aren't fully immersed.

[soj]

As long as you keep a steady schedule, your current pace of 3-3.5 hours per day should be fine for October. But no procrastination/distraction.

[mattviphky]

3 hours/4-5 days a week. any more than that felt counter-productive

[glewz]

8-12 hrs a day seems a bit excessive; I tried that a few times, and my brain would be fried by the end of the day - less retention.

5 hours of solid, uninterrupted studying was more than enough IMHO.

[JoeFish]

I would think more than 6 hours a day would be counterproductive for many, although not all.
I personally can't study for more than 3 hours at a time; if you feel like you need to do 6 hours in a day, after 2.5-3 hours it is beneficial to take an hour off, eat something, watch a TV show, sit outside for 15 minutes, and then come back with a clear head.

[KibblesAndVick]

I think the real question is how many hours of effective studying can one do, not just the max. Once you become inefficient, well, you aren't fully immersed.

Agreed. I wouldn't even approach it in terms of "1 sitting" other than when you're taking a practice test. When you're reviewing a prep test you already took (which is how you should spend most of your time IMO) you should study until you start to feel your concentration slip. Once you feel mental fatigue go clear your head and then come back to it. One hour of focused study will yield greater returns than two hours of drowsy, scatterbrained grinding.

[FantasticMrFox]

In one sitting? I can't even do three hours...

[fixxion]

Anywhere between 2 - 4 hours in the morning. I like to go for a run first(between 6-7 am because its too damn hot in Texas) then eat breakfast and shower. Then its study time until noon. Then break to watch tv and eat. Then i study for 1 more hour reviewing my work from the morning. 2 hours if I missed alot in my morning study sesh.

Im planning on stepping to 6 hour sessions once a week in september. Back to back practice tests with 25 mins in the middle in order to break past the fatigue.

[JamMasterJ]

5hrs. I work, so I do 2-3 M-Th averaging 2.5 per day, then do 4 or 5 on Saturday. This gets me to about 15 per week, and I'll add Sundays in August or September

[Luthecis]

I've been studying everyday (including weekends) for about 5-6 hours, doing LG (i've already covered all the LG topics) and LR questions (glancing at new topics in the LR book as I go.) Seeing the need to get started on the RC section, I'm planning to throw in maybe 1-2 RC passages in my daily routine.

I don't feel burnt out at the slightest, and all my friends wonder how I'm pulling off such a great feat; instead, I tell them that there are tons of people out there that are way[/i ]more ambitious than i am. (*ahem* TLS)

[imjustjoking22]

Depends, usually I need a break after a couple hours, but going through the PS logic games bible I put in two solid days of 6 hour studying straight by choice- it was kind of fun, so I just kept going. Some days I lose steam after an hour, though, so it's a crap shoot. Overall, I think if something is interesting and you are succeeding at it then a long stretch is easy, and if it's rough going then you need shorter periods/more breaks.

[Cupidity]

36 hour marathon.

[Sloth Hero]

I have a rather studious friendship with some othet students, and we have studied for over 12 hrs at a time together -- but this is in a highly competitive environment.

[LSATPREPPER]

I'd say about 8 hours.

[bruss]

What do you mean by study. Reading the bibles or reviewing? For me I can only go thru the bibles for about 4hrs a day. But reviewing tests or going over sections I do like 10+ hrs. Mind you my gf is outta town.

[Bildungsroman]

Well, the longest anyone has stayed awake without dying is 11 straight days, so probably something below that. Eventually, of course, your returns will diminish.

[LSATPREPPER]

Well, the longest anyone has stayed awake without dying is 11 straight days, so probably something below that. Eventually, of course, your returns will diminish.

Credited.